“The days of the garda out on the beat, knowing everyone in the village or town and building a relationship with them, are gone and that can be very hard to take.

“It’s why a lot of us came into the force in the first place.”

Over the last year the Garda has been rocked to its core by numerous scandals concerning the treatment of whistleblowers, serious flaws in the force’s data and the potential bugging of phones owned by ordinary members of the public.

A Commission on the Future of Policing has been established this week with a view to carrying out “root and branch” reform.

But the officer added: “To be honest it’s been devastating. You start to wonder if it’s worth all the hassle and many don’t think it is.”